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Sunday, October 10, 2010

Lowercase: A Review

I'm going to start this off with saying that I love ALL CAPS. They're among, if not the top of, my favorite bands. Their lyrics are (with the exception of a few lines) great, I don't mind the auto-tune unlike some people, I love the subject matter...

Their latest album, Lowercase (named for the fact that the music is acoustic, unlike their previous electronic albums), came out last Tuesday, and I just bought it.

Track 1: "Trainers In Love"This is a song about Pokemon, which I never watched/played, so I can't say much about the lyrics/portrayal of the relationship between Ash and Misty. However, I don't watch The Office, but I still like "You Kissed Me At The Dundies" from Bmin/E . This is one of the tracks that isn't an acoustic re-vamp of a previous song. One thing I like about acoustic music is that it feels more sensitive, vulnerable, and from-the-heart than electronic dance music with passionate lyrics and singing when combined with appropriate lyrics. I think this would make a fantastic electronic song (the chorus falls more in line with the "passionate lyrics and singing," reminding me of the original version of "World of Warcraft Ruined My Life," and "Delete You."

Track 2: "Saved (Acoustic)"I put the "Acoustic" there because, while this is an acoustic album, there is an electronic version on Songs In the Key of Email. I definitely like that version better than this one. The song's about video games, and doing digital things like saving backups. Kristina's singing is more quiet and sweet than the intense love I think is required to sing seriously about TMNT, Heroes, Lost, and the concept of video games. Plus, the original is great to dance to.

Track 3: "Don't Unplug Me (Acoustic)"While it's a song about robots, I think the electronic-ness isn't as needed as with "Saved." The acoustic factor accents the fact that while the characters are robots, they're still people with feelings. Just because they're made out of metal doesn't mean they can't love.

Track 4: "Dashing Knight"While the lyrics are cheesy, this is definitely my favorite track of the album. The "quiet and sweet" style of singing is perfect. I've always been something of a sucker for a good love story (comes from my dad), so naturally I love love love this song. When I was planning out what to write for this review, I was going to say that I didn't like how some of Kristina's vocals were layered over each other so it sounded like a choir of Kristinas were singing, but then I realized that the same was done with Luke's, and I think that does a good job of displaying how this general story isn't that of two people. There are a lot of young couples who have been separated by war. The male and female parts are for all of those men and women- not just these two characters. It's slowed down a little from the YouTube version, and that works well.

Track 5: "World of Warcraft Ruined My Life (Acoustic)"A good song in and of itself, and well-made, but when compared to the electronic one...not so much. I want more anger from Kristina and more "I LOVE WoW!!" from Luke. This character has gone past the "Hey, honey, you should play this less." She's at the "I HATE THAT STUPID GAME!" stage, and if it did enough to ruin her life, Luke's character must be pretty into it. This isn't the story of a young couple divided by WoW. This is the story of my parents, when my dad was playing it. The "Hey, I don't want to fight so I'm going to be gentle about it, but..." isn't what I want from this song. I want passion. Plus, like "Saved," the electronic version is way more dance-able.

Track 6: "Real Or Not Real?"If you don't like this song (or at least appreciate it for what it is), there is either something wrong with you, or you read the wrong version of The Hunger Games trilogy. The acoustic quality works for this. Also, go watch the music video at http://www.youtube.com/italktosnakes. It's amazing.

Unrelated thought: I think of things to blog about, and then I think of ways to point it out through fiction, but then I don't want to take the trouble of weaving it into a story. I just want to SAY it on here. Telling is a no-no in stories, so I turn to this blog, and then I'm annoyed because the power of the potential story has been lessened for those of you who read me. It's rather annoying.